Paul Laux

Paul Laux (born November 11, 1887 in Weimar , † September 2, 1944 in Riga ) was a German infantry general in World War II .

Life

The German Imperium

Laux joined the 10th Infantry Regiment No. 134 of the Saxon Army in Plauen on February 20, 1907 as a flag boy . About a year and a half later, he was promoted to lieutenant on August 14, 1908 . At the outbreak of the First World War he was a battalion adjutant in his main regiment. On November 28, 1914, he was promoted to first lieutenant . After Laux was promoted to captain on August 1, 1916 , he was used as a staff officer. Shortly before the end of the war, Laux was given command of a battalion . For his work during the war he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry , the Knight's Cross I Class of the Albrecht Order , the Wilhelm Ernst War Cross and the Knight's Cross II Class Swords of the Saxon Order of Merit and the House Order of the White Falcon .

Weimar Republic

After the end of the war he was accepted into the newly formed Reichswehr and in the spring of 1920 he was a general staff officer with the commander of the 19th Brigade. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles , which also stipulated the reduction of the army to 100,000 men as a condition, Laux became head of a company in the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment . Laux was later added to the staff of III in the spring of 1923. The regiment's battalion was called up, which is why he was stationed in Leipzig from then on . After Laux had been on this staff for around six months, he was transferred to the General Staff of Artillery Leader IV, based in Dresden , on October 1, 1923 for two years . After this time, Laux became a staff officer with Infantry Leader IV, who also had his headquarters in Dresden. Laux was transferred to the General Staff of the 4th Division on October 1, 1927 , where he was to remain for four years. During this time he was promoted to major on April 1, 1929 . Then he was transferred to Artillery Leader VI in Münster / Westphalia for another four years before the planned end of his activity with Infantry Leader IV and during this time promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on August 1, 1933 . In the course of expanding the Reichswehr, he moved to Hanover with the staff of Artillery Leader VI, which from then on was only a code name for a division staff . After being promoted to colonel on July 1, 1935, Laux became the commander of the Marienburg Infantry Regiment, which after the unmasking of the units on October 15, 1935 became the 24th Infantry Regiment based in Braunsberg.

National Socialism

His regimental command was withdrawn from him on October 1st, from then on Laux was directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army at a special disposal. After being promoted to major general on April 1, 1938, he became Infantry Commander 10 in Passau on November 10 of the same year , which is why the infantry units of the 10th Infantry Division were subordinate to him.

In the first year of the Second World War, he held the rank of chief quartermaster of the 1st Army from August 1939 to May 1940 . In October he was appointed commander of the 126th Infantry Division , which he led to the northern Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 during the German-Soviet War . Laux was appointed lieutenant general on January 1, 1941 . For his achievements in 1941 Paul Laux was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 14, 1941 . After the end of command of the 126th Infantry Division, he was briefly commanding general of the "Corps Laux" from October 10 to November 28, 1942 and then until July 1944, commanding general of the II Army Corps . He gave up his command on April 1, 1944 and took it back on May 11. During his time as commander of this corps, he was promoted to General of the Infantry on December 1, 1942, and on May 17, 1943, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (237th award) for his leadership achievements during the defensive battles in the Demyansk front arc. After that, Laux was relieved of his command again on July 2, 1944, but he was commander-in-chief of the 16th Army for almost two months until his death .

The Fieseler Storch , in which Paul Laux was on a reconnaissance flight in the Riga area on August 30, 1944, fell due to enemy fire . He died of serious injuries on September 2 in Field Hospital 158 in Riga.

literature

Dermot Bradley : The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 7: Knabe – Luz. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004, ISBN 3-7648-2902-8 , pp. 407-408.

Individual evidence

↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1924, p. 148.
↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 497.

personal data
SURNAME	Laux, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German infantry general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	November 11, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH	Weimar
DATE OF DEATH	September 2, 1944
Place of death	Riga

[1] Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1924, p. 148.

[2] Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 497.